The preserved counties of Wales are the eight current areas used in

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

for the ceremonial purposes of lieutenancy and

shrievalty A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

. They are based on the

counties A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

created by the Local Government Act 1972 and used for local government and other purposes between 1974 and 1996. Currently 22 single-tier

principal areas {{Short description, Formal legal term for a county in England and Wales In England and Wales local government legislation, a principal area is one of the sub-national areas established for control by a principal council. They include most of the ar ...

are used for administrative purposes.

Usage

The

Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 The Local Government (Wales) Act 1994 (c. 19) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which amended the Local Government Act 1972 to create the current local government structure in Wales of 22 unitary authority areas, referred to as ...

abolished the eight ceremonial counties created by the Local Government Act 1972. However, it created the concept of preserved counties based on their areas, to be used for purposes such as Lieutenancy. This usage was consolidated by the

Lieutenancies Act 1997 The Lieutenancies Act 1997 (c. 23) is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom that defines areas that lord-lieutenants are appointed to in Great Britain. It came into force on 1 July 1997. Creation of modern local government Prior to the Loca ...

. Certain statutes already in force were amended to include reference to them — as of 16 February 2011, the only remaining provisions still extant are:. * Sheriffs Act 1887 (c. 55) – the counties that High Sheriffs are appointed to are the preserved counties.
Defence Act 1842 (c. 94)
– Lieutenants are those appointed to preserved counties.
Sea Fisheries (Shellfish) Act 1967 (c. 83)
– relevant portions of the sea shore shall be deemed to be within preserved counties.

Boundary changes

The preserved counties were originally almost identical to the 1974–96 counties, but with a few minor changes in line with local government boundary changes:

Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant () is a village, community and an ecclesiastical parish in the extreme north of Powys, Wales; about 9 miles west of Oswestry and 12 miles south of Llangollen, on the B4580. It lies near the foothills of the Berwyn mountains ...

Llansilin Llansilin () is a village and local government community in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales, west of Oswestry. The community, which includes Llansilin village, a large rural area and the hamlets of Moelfre and Rhiwlas as well as the remote parish ...

and Llangedwyn were transferred from Clwyd to

Powys Powys (; ) is a county and preserved county in Wales. It is named after the Kingdom of Powys which was a Welsh successor state, petty kingdom and principality that emerged during the Middle Ages following the end of Roman rule in Britain. Geog ...

, and

Wick Wick most often refers to: * Capillary action ("wicking") ** Candle wick, the cord used in a candle or oil lamp ** Solder wick, a copper-braided wire used to desolder electronic contacts Wick or WICK may also refer to: Places and placename ...

, St Brides Major,

Ewenny Ewenny ( cy, Ewenni) is a village and community (parish) on the River Ewenny in the Vale of Glamorgan, Wales. Over the years the village has grown into the neighbouring village of Corntown to such an extent that there is no longer a clear boundar ...

and

Pentyrch Pentyrch ( cy, Pen-tyrch) is a village and community located on the western outskirts of Cardiff, the capital city of Wales. The village gives its name to a Cardiff local authority electoral ward, Pentyrch, which covers the village and immediat ...

were transferred from

Mid Glamorgan , Government= Mid Glamorgan County Council , Status= Non-metropolitan county (1974–1996) Preserved county (1996–) , Start= 1974 , End= 1996 , Arms= ''Coat of arms of Mid ...

South Glamorgan , Government= South Glamorgan County Council , Status= Non-metropolitan county (1974–1996) Preserved county (1996–) , Start= 1974 , End= 1996 , Arms= , HQ= ...

. There were however two local government areas, Caerphilly and

Conwy Conwy (, ), previously known in English as Conway, is a walled market town, community and the administrative centre of Conwy County Borough in North Wales. The walled town and castle stand on the west bank of the River Conwy, facing Deganwy on ...

, split between preserved counties. The Local Government Boundary Commission for Wales were instructed by the

National Assembly for Wales The Senedd (; ), officially known as the Welsh Parliament in English and () in Welsh, is the devolved, unicameral legislature of Wales. A democratically elected body, it makes laws for Wales, agrees certain taxes and scrutinises the Welsh Go ...

on 11 March 2002 to undertake a review of preserved county boundaries. In their final proposals the part of the local government area of Caerphilly which had been in Mid Glamorgan was to be part of Gwent and the part of the local government area of

which had been in Gwynedd was to be part of Clwyd. The boundary between Mid Glamorgan and South Glamorgan was also to be re-aligned to reflect small changes in local government boundaries. The Assembly accepted these proposals such that from 2 April 2003 each preserved county encompassed between one and five whole local government areas. The boundary between West Glamorgan and Powys was further modified on 1 April 2005 as a result of boundary changes between Ystalyfera and Ystradgynlais. The boundary between Mid Glamorgan and Powys was further modified on 1 April 2010 to reflect the 2009 local government boundary changes in the area around

Vaynor Vaynor ( Welsh: ''Y Faenor'', meaning "The Manor") is a village and community (formerly a parish) in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough in Wales, United Kingdom. The population of the community at the 2011 census was 3,551. Location It is about f ...

, Merthyr Tydfil.

List

The population figures are mid-year estimates for 2007 from the

Office for National Statistics The Office for National Statistics (ONS; cy, Swyddfa Ystadegau Gwladol) is the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority, a non-ministerial department which reports directly to the UK Parliament. Overview The ONS is responsible for t ...

, grouping component unitary authority area figures into their respective preserved counties.Statistics.gov.uk

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Preserved Counties Of Wales Preserved

Usage

Boundary changes

List

See also

References